Reuters reports that Microsoft has announced its pricing stategy for the Zune music player (Photos) which will go on sale November 14th 2006.
Microsoft is pricing the 30GB Zune at $249.99 which is essentially the same price as the 30GB iPod. Meanwhile, songs will also be sold through the "Zune Marketplace" at $.99/song similar to the iTunes Store. Pricing the Zune at this price, however, means that Microsoft will be losing money on sales of the player at the start:
"We had to look at what was in the market and offer a competitive price," said Scott Erickson, Microsoft's senior director of product marketing for Zune. "We're not going to be profitable this holiday but the Zune project is a multiyear strategy."
Zune has additional features over the iPod such as wireless connectivity and an FM tuner. Zune users will reportedly be able to beam songs and photos with each other. At launch, the Zune Marketplace will only sell music (no videos) but will also provide a $14.99/month unlimited subscription option as well.
The music player is reportedly only the first step in a line of portable devices, and a Zune phone is said to be in the works. Zune, of course, provides no Mac compatibility.
Monday November 11, 2024 11:28 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple today released firmware updates for both AirPods 4 models (version number 7B20) and the AirPods Pro 2 with both Lightning and USB-C charging cases (version number 7B21). All of these AirPods models were previously on firmware version 7B19.
It is not immediately clear what new features or changes are included in firmware versions 7B20 and 7B21, but we will update this story if we find...
Sunday November 10, 2024 12:13 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
In its announcement video for the new Mac mini last month, Apple teased an "upcoming" version of Final Cut Pro for the Mac. Apple will likely announce the update during the annual Final Cut Pro Creative Summit, which begins this Wednesday. The conference is held in association with Apple, and attendees will be visiting Apple Park on the first day.
Apple already teased four new features...
Next year's iPhone 17 "Air" model may not be as thin as Apple planned, according to a rumor originating in Korea.
According to the news aggregator account "yeux1122" on Naver, citing industry sources, Apple has run into problems making the new iPhone 17 model sufficiently thin. The device's reduced thickness is apparently dependent on manufacturing a battery with a thinner substrate, but...
Black Friday is getting closer, and prices on MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, iMac, and Mac mini computers have started to drop as the shopping holiday nears. These deals include the latest models of the M4 MacBook Pro and iMac.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site...
Black Friday sales are continuing today with Best Buy kicking off early Black Friday deals that will last for the next few days. Similar to other retailers, Best Buy's early Black Friday event includes sitewide savings on Apple products, headphones, TVs, monitors, video games, and more.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Best Buy. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may...
Monday November 11, 2024 8:18 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Last week, we reported on a new feature in the Find My app on the iOS 18.2 beta that allows you to temporarily share an AirTag's location with a trusted person, and soon with airlines. Apple today announced the feature, providing more details.
Apple said more than 15 airlines will offer the feature "in the coming months," including Delta, United, Air Canada, British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, ...
Monday November 11, 2024 4:53 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple seeded the third betas of iOS 18.2 and iPadOS 18.2 to developers for testing today. While the third betas of each update are minor relative to the first two betas, there are still a handful of changes across the Photos app, TV app, and more.
A corresponding iOS 18.2 public beta with these changes will likely be released later this week, and Apple previously confirmed that the software...
Monday November 11, 2024 12:42 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
It has been nearly two and a half years since Apple first previewed next-generation CarPlay at WWDC 2022, and it has still yet to become available in any vehicles. Fortunately, though, Apple continues to work on the software system.
Within the code for the third beta of iOS 18.2 seeded to developers today, there are redesigned "Climate" and "Media" app icons for next-generation CarPlay,...
